Improvement in piano-fortes



UNITED STATES PATENT OEEICE.

MORITZ STANGE, OF NEV YORK, N. Y.

IMPROVEMENT EN PiANO==FORTES.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. ELI-bt), dated January 21, 1862.

To @ZZ whom it may concern,.-

Be it known that I, MORITZ STANG'E, of the city, county, and State of New York, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Piano-Fortes; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the saine, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming part of this specification, in which- Figure l is a transverse vertical section of the bridges and part of the wrest-plank and hitch-plate and a side view of one of the strings of a piano-forte illustrating myinvention. Fig. 2 isaplan corresponding with Fig. I. Fig. 3 is a plan of a modification of Inyinvention. Fig. 4 is a plan of the arrangement ot strings in common use.

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts wherevertheyoccur in different figures.

This invention consists in so applying and arranging the steady-pins in the sound-board bridge and in combination with the strings as to obviate the tendency to twist the bridge and so strain the sound-board consequent upon the usual arrangement of pins.

To explain this I will first refer to Fig. 4, representing the usual arrangement. A is the sound-board bridge; a ct, the hitch-pins; b b, the tuning-pins; c c, thestrings, and CZ CZ the steady-pins. The steady-pins-two for each string-are arranged one on each side, and the powerful lateral pressure caused by the tension of the strings against the pins, actingin opposite directions on the two, as indicated by arrows on the bridge, tends to twist the bridge and so to strain the sound-board.

In the example of the invention represented in Figs. l and 2 three pins e efare used in the bridge A for each string-one e near each edge and the third f at the center of the bridge. The strings pass on one side of the pins e e and on the opposite side ot the pins f, and hence their lateral pressure upon the pins e e in one direction is counteracted by the pressure upon the pins f in the opposite direction and no strain is produced on the sound-board. The pins e e and f may be of about the same strength as the pins (Z d commonly used.

Fig. 3 shows another method. Only two pins g g are used in the bridge A. These pins are stouter than the pins CZ d commonly used, and each pin is made to serve fortwo strings, each string passing' on one side of one pin and on the opposite side ot' the other, one string pass- Ing 011 one side of each pin and the other on the opposite side, so that the lateral pressure of each string on each pin is counter-acted by that of the other string on the opposite side of the same pin. This system of pins and strings is only applicable conveniently where two strings are used for each note, and not to the covered or loaded strings; but the system shown in Figs. I and 2 is applicable to single strings or in cases where two or more are used for a note.

That I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

The arrangement of thepinsf, with the pins e e and strings c c, as herein shown and described.

MORITZ STANGE. Vitnesses.

JAMES LAIRD, RICHARDSON GAWLEY. 

